(Photo: S. Jhoanna Robledo/New York Magazine )

215 West 91st Street, Apartment 133
Three-bedroom, 1,650-square-foot prewar co-op.
Asking Price: $1.495 million.
Maintenance: $2,442 per month.
Broker: Julie Smith and Elise Witkin, Halstead Property.

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(Photo: S. Jhoanna Robledo/New York Magazine )

Who: Michelle Smith, wealth-management executive, and John Hickey, equities trader.
What are you looking at?
J.H.: We’ve been renting in Manhattan for a while now, and we think it’s the best time to buy.
What do you think?
M.S.: It’s old and needs a lot of work. But it’s interesting—the arches, the moldings. In an older apartment, if you block out all of someone else’s stuff, you can get a vision.

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(Photo: S. Jhoanna Robledo/New York Magazine )

Who: Georgia Smith, art teacher; Chris Smith, physician; and Dot, age 6.
Do you like the apartment?
C.S.: We live near Boston, so it’ll be hard—it’s not the kind of rehab you can do quickly. If I was here already and knew the scene, I’d be more than willing to take on both moving and renovating.
Why are you moving?
C.S.: Cornell offered me a position. We’re visiting to see if we can live here, if we want to.
G.S.: The biggest change is not for us but for her [gestures to Dot]. We’re used to city living, but this is intense city living.

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(Photo: S. Jhoanna Robledo/New York Magazine )

Who: Patrizia Bigotti, director of an Italian-language school.
How long have you been looking?
Ay-yi-yi. This is a big question. I look, I fall in love, I put in a bid, then no. It’s been on and off for two years. I liked one apartment and I didn’t get it, so I decided to stop for a year. It was too depressing.
Do you like this one?
It reminds me of my grandmother. It has too many, how do you say, corridoio. Hallways. I like open space.

Related:

• Archive: “Real Estate”
• Articles by S.Jhoanna Robledo
• Table of Contents: Nov 9, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!